Hooker frustrated as rivals stay silent
Who would have thought it would be so hard to find someone in the UFC who wanted to punch you in the face?
It’s a situation Kiwi lightweight Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker finds himself in after four straight stoppages have seen him rise to No 14 in the rankings.
Hooker, 28, has been fighting in the UFC since June 2014, and after making the step up from featherweight to lightweight last year, he’s flourished, ending all four of his fights before the final bell, one of the promotion’s longest active stoppage streaks.
After taking less than three minutes to knock out Brazilian Gilbert Burns in early July, Hooker was hoping to book another fight quickly so he could get one more in before the December event in Adelaide. And despite calling out several fighters on social media, Hooker has heard crickets.
“I got a ranking, I thought at least — at the very least — I’d have guys outside of the rankings wanting a spot and asking for a fight, but it’s the same situation — crickets from those guys as well,” he told the Herald on Sunday.
“I have started calling myself ‘#MrInvisible’ because they don’t even respond. I thought the ranking, it might not get me the fight, but it would get me a response at least. It would be courteous.”
While seven of the 16 ranked lightweights have upcoming bouts, the likes of Kevin Lee (No 5), Anthony Pettis (No 8) and Edson Barboza (No 6) are without fights. Hooker has mentioned all of them, to no avail.
“I can’t be the craziest guy in the UFC, I can’t be. But the higher up I’m getting, no one else seems to want to fight like I want to fight. It’s quite strange. I thought I was in the elite of the world. I thought I was in the fighting championship — everyone just wants to fight everyone as much and as regularly as possible — but it’s just not turning out that way.”
Now, 15 weeks out from the event in Adelaide, the window for booking another fight before the December event has closed. Hooker is adamant he should be on that card, where City Kickboxing team-mate Kai KaraFrance is expected to make his UFC debut, and said he expects a big name.
Barboza would be his opponent of choice. However, Hooker said his coach, Eugene Bareman, wants him to fight Pettis. Either bout would be worthy of the main event.
“Eugene wants Pettis . . . If I had to pick, it would be Barboza. I feel like that’s the tougher match-up.”
Hooker’s next bout will be the last on his UFC contract. He expects extension talks to get under way once he has agreed to his next fight.